Democrats looking for an alternative to progressive lawmakers’ proposed moratorium on data centers will now have yet another policy idea to consider.
Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate’s tax-writing body, on Thursday will propose a new excise tax and elimination of tax breaks for a data center construction boom expected to run into the trillions of dollars.
His proposal joins roughly a half-dozen competing Democratic approaches to addressing Americans’ unrest around AI, reflecting the soaring political salience of AI policy — an area Democrats are eager to win voters’ trust on.